17th February 2017 marks the 46th birthday of the First Lady of the Republic of Nigeria, Aisha Muhammadu Buhari.

In celebration of this new age, Aisha’s daughter, Zahra Buhari-Indimi took to Instagram to tell the world what her mother means to her. She even went as far as calling Aisha Muhammadu Buhari The First Lady of Nigeria, a title which has caused some eyebrows to raise.

However, as Nigeria celebrates the wife of her president, we at BuzzNigeria join in the celebration with these amazing facts about the celebrant.

Biography, Age

Aisha Muhammadu Buhari (née Halilu) wasborn on February 17, 1971, in a small city in Adamawa State, North-east Nigeria. She was born into the family of the first Minister of Defense, Alhaji Mohammadu Ribadu who happens to be her paternal grandfather. Her father was a renown civil engineer while her mother hails from the family of the Ankali- renowned farmers.

Unlike most women of her kind who lacked the opportunity to quality education, Aisha is quite learned, thanks to her learned parents. She had her basic and secondary education in Adamawa State and graduated from the Ahmadu Bello University where she earned a Bachelor degree in public administration. In addition to that, she bagged a Diploma in Beauty Therapy from the Carlton Institute of Beauty Therapy, Windsor, United Kingdom. She also undertook a Counselling Course on Co-Dependency in the United Kingdom and is specialised in Permanent Make-up, Mesotherapy and Micro-dermabrasion.

Aisha Muhammadu Buhari Family, Children

Aisha Muhammadu Buhari got married to Muhammadu Buhari at the age of 18. She is his second wife and has five children with him. They include Zahra Buhari, Yusuf Buhari, Halima Buhari Sheriff, Amina Buhari, and her namesake Aisha Buhari, and one grandchild.

Aisha Buhari and her Family

Facts About Nigeria’s First Lady

1. Aisha Muhammadu Buhari is a cosmetologist, beauty therapist, and author. Her beauty book, “Essentials of Beauty Therapy’ was launched in April 2016, about a year after she assumed the duties of the wife of Nigerian president.

2. Mrs. Buhari is a subtle feminist who fights for girl power, female education and against forced early marriages, sex trafficking and other issues Nigerian girls and women contend with. Her vocal advocate for women and children rights gave her a focal point during her campaign for her husband’s election in 2015. It was, in fact, a campaign strategy that gave her husband an edge over his opponent

3. Aisha Buhari is 28-years younger than her husband but has more formal educational qualifications than him.

4. In October 2016, Aisha Buhari made a very shocking remark about her husband and his political party. She said that she wouldn’t back her husband in the next election because she isn’t impressed with the way he’s run the government. This actually caused an uproar among citizens, and her husband reacted by saying that she only belongs to his “kitchen and the other room”. He was quoted as saying; “I don’t know which party my wife belongs to, but she belongs to my kitchen and my living room and the other room”.

5. She holds a master’s degree in International Affairs and Strategic Studies from the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna and is currently taking a Counselling Course on Co-Dependency in the United Kingdom.

6. She owns a Beauty salon in Kaduna and Abuja and is the CEO of Hanzy Spa and Principal of Hanzy Beauty Institute.

7. Aisha Buhari prefers to be called Mrs Buhari or wife of the President, as opposed to the title ‘First Lady of Nigeria,’ however, her daughter broke that principle when wishing her a happy birthday.

Aisha Buhari and daughter, Zahra Buhari

8. Mrs Buhari has a sophisticated and luxurious wardrobe and has a thing for designer bags, shoes, clothes and accessories.

9. In October 2016, she was spotted wearing a $2,600 Salvatore Ferragamo cape while on a trip to Brussels, Belgium for the African Women’s Forum.

10. Prior to that, she was seen with a designer Hermes Birkin 35cm Porosus Crocodile bag. The bag is reportedly worth between $69,000 and $89,000, that’s between N34,500,000 and N44,500,000 using the current N500 to N1 dollar black market exchange rate.

11. Aisha and her children live a luxury life as well, and she says they are fed and clothed from her own pocket, not from the nation’s purse as speculated.